Money issues and Hitler

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The past few days have been a mixture of good times and an utter gong show. A few days ago I realized I lost my debit. Crap. After the initial panic, I called my mom and we called my bank. She now has my new debit which she will expedite to my next stop, Huanchaco. She also sent me some money via western union to tide me over, awesome.

I went to pick it up 2 days ago... Nothing there. But I figured whatever she probably accidentally did the 24 hour type transfer, so I checked back yesterday. Nothing. So I started to panic. I called her to no avail. And so? I cried. Oh yes I had a massive panic attack and 5 kind Peruvian women surrounded me trying to help.

So I tried my mom again but nothing. Then I called my grandma and she sent me money (I thought since my mom did it online it must not have gone through, and my mom could reimburse my grandma). Well, finally last night my mom emailed me, and her damn bank had put a hold on it!

But, alas, all is well. I received both batches of funds and simply email money transferred one batch back. That was this morning prior to arriving at the bus station. So I've had a successful morning; I got my money and made it to the bus with plenty of time to spare, soon I'll be on my way to my glorious beach paradise, Huanchaco!

Last night, however, was quite fascinating. So my friend Jorge (who incidentally I met in Huanchaco 2 years ago) is working at an art exposition. It's all photos and Pepito and I went to check it out. I was in a foul mood as the money issues were still going strong at the time. We got there and the first floor had immense pictures showing life in Peru. They were cool and light hearted.

Then we got to the second floor. It showed images from a sort of civil war that happened in Peru in the 80s. There was a group of "revolutionaries" vs the army that was trying to stop them. Both parties killed many, many innocent people. I took no pictures of this portion of the gallery as the images were far too haunting, and so very real. It was important for me to see, and to gain perspective. It was really horrifying. One image had about 15 men all lying naked, dead, some with their insides showing. These were real, not recreations.

Jorge told me that the revolution was led by a man who had been a professor of philosophy here in Peru.

Do you remember the friendly Peruvian man on my boat from Leticia to Iquitos? The one named Hitler? I had told him I was taking philosophy and Spanish in school. Now he rambled a lot so I only caught certain things. He had taken philosophy here in Peru, and his prof had led some group, and been very extreme. Hitler himself had been arrested at some point, and I believe deported. Also of note is that he lived in Leticia, Colombia, and that passports are not stamped or looked at (I had to do this on my own the previous day) entering Iquitos.

Are you connecting the dots here? Ya, it seems friendly Peruvian Hitler was not such a good guy afterall. I may be wrong, but I don't think I am.

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